1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic and electro-mechanical games awarding a payout for performance based on skill, chance, or a combination of skill and chance. More particularly, the present invention provides an apparatus and method where a player of a game may select a plurality of winning combinations and rank them according to desired award amounts. A player may, alternatively or additionally, select the odds and associated awards for selected winning combinations, manipulate the odds that a winning combination will appear by adding elements of a winning combination to a group of elements, or weighting the elements which combine to form a winning combination heavier than other elements such that they appear more frequently.
2. State of the Art
Gambling or gaming machines and their operation are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Earliest embodiments of gaming machines took them form of mechanically-operated devices such as xe2x80x9cslot machinesxe2x80x9d incorporating a series of spinning wheels, each bearing a sequence of symbols along its periphery indicating stop positions. Depending on which sequence of symbols randomly appeared in a viewing window along a win line, various prizes, credits or cash were awarded. Commonly, the appearance of a single symbol in a certain location (such as xe2x80x9ccherriesxe2x80x9d on the first reel) might award a small amount, perhaps less than the amount bet by the player. A pair of the same symbol would pay slightly more. Three of that symbol would pay higher still. However, in the same device, the appearance of a different symbol, such as a xe2x80x9c7xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cbarxe2x80x9d, might not pay anything for a single or pair, but three xe2x80x9c7sxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cbarsxe2x80x9d might constitute a xe2x80x9cjackpotxe2x80x9d awarding the highest prize. The overall payout rate, and, thus, the house""s profit or advantage, also known as xe2x80x9ctake,xe2x80x9d is determined by a set of xe2x80x9cpay schedules,xe2x80x9d also known as xe2x80x9cpayout tablesxe2x80x9d or merely xe2x80x9cpay tablesxe2x80x9d which rank, for example, winning combinations of symbols or hands of cards having a payout associated with each combination or hand in the ranking. The house""s take is conventionally a percentage of the total cash or credit played at the gaming machine (e.g., three percent). The remainder of the money is returned to the players through winnings to encourage further play, thereby sustaining and increasing the house""s overall take over a period of time. In conventional electronic gaming machines, the game xe2x80x9cpersonalityxe2x80x9d, the odds and payout schedule, which is comprised of symbol odds and award amounts stored in memory, determines the theoretical payouts.
FIG. 1 illustrates examples of two pay schedules which may be used by an exemplary, conventional electronic card game known in the art, wherein Nx (N being an integer) is used to indicate the award as a multiplier of the number of coins bet if the winning combination appears. As should be clear to one of ordinary skill in the art by viewing the two pay schedules, the First Pay Schedule is skewed to award some relatively higher payouts for more common hands, while the Second Pay Schedule is skewed to award relatively higher payouts for less common hands.
Gaming machines may also limit the highest jackpot to those who wager the maximum number of credits for each play, often three to five credits (see FIG. 1, Royal Flush Jackpot) but conventionally far in excess of that range, in some instances fifteen or more credits and, as known to the inventor herein, as many as 135. A credit may take the form, by way of example and not limitation, of a coin, a token or an electronically-recorded account entry. For convenience and clarity, all such wagers and awards will be referred to herein as xe2x80x9ccreditsxe2x80x9d. As shown, the highest obtainable jackpot is often proportionately exaggerated in comparison to jackpots which can be won by betting less than the highest number of credits allowed per play. As an additional example, a single credit bet might yield a highest jackpot of 100 credits. Two credits bet might yield a highest jackpot of 200 credits. However, three credits bet (in a three credit maximum bet device) might yield a possible jackpot of 1000 credits.
Gaming devices controlled by microprocessors are well known in the art, the devices using either mechanical spinning reels or animated video displays of reels, cards, Keno boards and the like. The emergence of such electromechanical and purely electronic devices has opened a vast array of possibilities to gaming device designers. One such innovation has been to interconnect banks of gaming devices, both locally and over broad geographic areas, with a relatively small percentage of each wager being cumulatively added to a centralized and ever-growing jackpot. Such an arrangement is known as a multi-link progressive jackpot. One state-wide progressive jackpot is the Megabucks(copyright) program operated by International Gaming Technology throughout the State of Nevada.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,421 to Hamano (Oct. 13, 1992) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,147 to Hamano (Dec. 8, 1992) disclose mechanical rotary gaming devices with associated microprocessors, this arrangement being conventionally used in the form of a modem slot machine, and a method for allowing an owner of the devices to control the stop action of the rotary units to adjust the probability of appearance of the displayed symbols. As a further example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,419 to Telnaes (May 15, 1994) describes a mechanical reel slot machine controlled by a microprocessor in such a way as to manipulate and vary the odds of achieving any particular combination of symbols through the use of a random number generator picking numbers representing stop positions, each stop position being represented by one or more numbers so as to control the frequency of occurrence. The scheme creates a xe2x80x9cvirtual reelxe2x80x9d within the microprocessor even though a physical reel is used to display the game outcome symbols.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary electronic game 102 as found in the art. An electronic game 102 typically includes a microprocessor or other computer 104 having a central processing unit (xe2x80x9cCPUxe2x80x9d) 106 and memory 108. The computer may be coupled to a number of peripheral devices such as, by example only, a display 110 (e.g., a cathode ray tube (xe2x80x9cCRTxe2x80x9d), plasma display, liquid crystal display (xe2x80x9cLCDxe2x80x9d), and/or a display based on light-emitting diodes (xe2x80x9cLEDxe2x80x9d)), possibly having a touchscreen input 112 (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,397 to Dickinson (Sep. 14, 1999)), and/or buttons, keys or other manual input devices 114. Preferably a credit acceptor device 116 (to accept coins, currency, credit cards, gaming cards, smart cards and the like) permits a player to activate game play or place wagers. The electronic game may also include a separate scoreboard display 118.
Electronic games may also be coupled to one or more other computers such as a central computer 120 of a casino, e.g., via a network card 122 and link 124, a modem 126 and the like. The game parameters 128, such as how, when and where particular images will appear on the display screen 110, how the game works and how to operate the various elements operably coupled to the computer 104, are-stored in the memory 108. The electronic game 102 may be housed in a game housing such as, by example only, those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,460 to Fulton (Oct. 13, 1998) and Des. U.S. Pat. No. 404,436 to McGahn et al. (Jan. 19, 1999).
Initiating an electronic game can be done as simply as by inserting a credit or, more comprehensively, for example, by inserting an identification card, such as a xe2x80x9csmart cardxe2x80x9d having a programmed microchip or a magnetic strip coded with a player""s identification and credit totals. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,874 to Dickinson et al. (Nov. 30, 1993). U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,045 to Biorge et al. (Sep. 8, 1998) uses a writeable identification card, such as a xe2x80x9csmart cardxe2x80x9d to eliminate the need for a network or direct connection between remote systems and a common controller or point database. Credit and other information may be retrieved, recorded and updated using the xe2x80x9csmart card.xe2x80x9d Alternatively, it is known to transfer money to a game through an electronic funds transfer as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,983 to Crevelt et al. (May 11, 1999).
Electronic gaming devices, such as those conventionally found in a casino, are widely diverse in structure, and their operation and manufacture are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. For gaming devices such as the aforementioned Megabucks(copyright) games, a higher potential payout encourages players to play the game and continue playing the game. Many other gaming devices are also designed to encourage prolonged and repeated play of the device. Understandably, the more a gaming device is played, the greater the house""s volume of profit or take from the game.
One method presently used in the art to make a gaming device more interesting and entertaining is to allow players to choose a pay schedule, either directly or through their actions, for a predetermined set of combinations from an established set of pay schedules. One example of this may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,649 to Tiberio (Jun. 23, 1992). Tiberio discloses a slot machine having a dynamic pay schedule wherein the slot machine selects a pay schedule from a set of pay schedules as a function of the number of credits applied and the current state of the machine. The current state of the machine is represented by an event counter incremented upon the happening of certain events. As the machine counter advances from one state to the next, pay schedules of successively higher rank are selected so that the player""s potential payout increases.
Another example of player-selected pay schedules is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,147 to Stupak et al. (Dec. 22, 1998). The device of Stupak et al. includes pay schedules from which a player may select an active pay schedule. The selectable pay schedules include pay schedules which offer an increased potential payout for combinations with a higher probability of appearing by decreasing the potential payout for those combinations with a lower probability of appearing. Stupak et al. also disclose selectable pay schedules which offer an increased potential payout for combinations with a lower probability of appearing by decreasing or eliminating the payout for those combinations with a higher probability of appearing. Stupak et al. even disclose a pay schedule wherein all payouts are eliminated except for a large payout on the combination having the lowest probability of appearing (a Royal Flush).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,184 to Bennett (May 11, 1999) discloses predetermined pay schedules selectable by a player based upon a range from which a player would like a variable, random prize to be awarded. Once a player chooses the range from which the variable prize will come, the associated pay schedule is displayed. Thus, a player may take a risk of a lower routine payout in exchange for the possibility of a high variable payout, or a higher routine payout in exchange for a low variable payout.
Another method presently used in the art to make a gaming device more interesting and entertaining is to allow players to choose a particular winning combination for which the gaming device will pay out. With slot machines, as demonstrated by U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,683 to Hooker (Jan. 22, 1980), U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,600 to Olliges (Mar. 10, 1987) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,053 to Vazquez, Jr. et al. (Sep. 22, 1987), it is known to allow a player to select one winning combination or symbol for which the slot machine will pay. For electronic card games, as demonstrated by U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,899 to Skratulia (Sep. 26, 1995), U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,575 to Keller (Oct. 6, 1998) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,022,022 to Smith (Feb. 8, 2000), it is known to allow a player to select a winning set of cards or a particular card for which the game will pay. There are also other gaming devices where a player may select one particular symbol, number, letter, ball, or combination thereof, as the trigger for the gaming device to pay out. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,091 to Comito (Apr. 21, 1992), U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,880 to Maksymec (Nov. 30, 1993) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,816 to Bruin et al. (Nov. 17, 1998).
In each of the slot machines, electronic card games and other games discussed above, the respective amounts of the pay schedule awards are proportional to the odds of achieving the particular combination or symbol selected. In other words, for a particular pay schedule among the pay schedules available for player selection, those elements or combinations with a lower probability of appearing have a higher associated payout than those elements or combinations with a higher probability of appearing. Thus, payout amounts are ranked strictly by the probability of achieving a particular combination. Additionally, where a player is permitted to select a winning element or combination, the player is only permitted to select one element or combination for the award. In this way, players are limited in their available options for playing existing gaming devices which may also limit their entertainment and interest in the game. It is, therefore, desirable to allow players more control over pay schedules and game variations to increase player interest in the games.
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing the player of an electronically-controlled gaming device greater control of selected parameters of the game. In a first aspect of the present invention, a game may be configured to allow a player to rank player-selected winning combinations regardless of the probability for the particular combination appearing. By reducing the possible payout available for elements or combinations with a low probability of appearance, the possible payout for elements or combinations with a higher probability of appearance may be increased. The player may select and rank the winning combinations from a predetermined list of combinations, or the player may select, create and rank winning combinations from a list of elements. Thereafter, a processor associated with the apparatus generates an appropriate set of payouts for the pay schedule responsive to the player-selected combination rankings in order to maintain a desirable, or legally-mandated, overall payout for the game.
In a second aspect of the invention, a gaming device may be configured such that a player may adjust the odds of appearance of a particular game element or winning combination of elements. By adjusting the odds of a particular element or combination appearing, a player may also increase the level of interest the player has in the game by seeing selected elements or combinations more often than others. In one embodiment, the odds of appearance may be adjusted by the player directly adjusting the weight assigned to various elements in the game. In another embodiment, the odds of appearance may be adjusted by the player adding additional elements to the game or increasing or reducing the number of particular elements available from which to make combinations. In yet another embodiment, a player assigns the odds for achieving predetermined or player-selected elements or sets of combinations. As with the first aspect of the invention, pay schedules may be generated by an associated microprocessor responsive to player input.
In a third aspect of the invention, a player may select one or more award amounts for predetermined or player-selected winning elements or combinations. Once a player has entered an amount or amounts for which the player wishes to play with respect to a given element or combination or several elements or combinations, a microprocessor associated with the game may create (i.e., adjust) payouts of the pay schedule to accommodate the selected awards.
Various combinations of the aforementioned aspects of this invention are described further in detail hereafter. As one of ordinary skill in the art will understand, numerous combinations of these aspects are possible, and those provided are for illustrative and exemplary purposes only and are not in any way limiting to the present invention.